Serenity
3rd grade Silva
Paralympic Table Tennis
There are many Olympic sports played every four years. Paralympic table tennis is one of them. To begin, the origin of when paralympic table tennis was first played. In 1921-22 table tennis was first played in France and then table tennis became a paralympic sport in 1960 during the Rome games. Also, the equipment needed is the table, net, 2 tennis rackets, tennis balls. Then,the rules are: each game begins and is won by whoever scores 11 points. Points are scored when the ball server fails to make a good return. The only difference between Olympic table tennis and paralympic table tennis is some athletes use their mouths to hit it over the net, and wheelchair athletes have a smaller table. Paralympic table tennis is very exciting and hard and also shows many concepts of physics.
There are many forces at work in the sport of paralympic table tennis. A balanced force at work is when the ball is on the table, not in motion. These types of forces can be seen in the sport of paralympic table tennis when the ball is not moving on the table. This is a balanced force because it stays there until a force comes upon it. Balanced forces can be seen when the equipment is in a bag on the bench not moving. In paralympic table tennis the force of the table and the force of the objects, net or athletes with rackets are pushing against each other equally causing no motion. Unbalanced forces are athletes during the game. Newton's first law says an object in motion will stay in motion until a force comes upon them. An object in rest will stay in rest until a force acts upon it. The ball is in rest until another player hits it with the racket and the ball is in motion until the player can’t hit the ball and it falls on the floor and the ball is an unbalanced force until a force comes upon the ball and makes the ball a balanced force.
Newton’s 2nd law is shown in paralympic table tennis. Newton’s 2nd law states that the greater the mass of an object the greater the force to move it. The definition of force, mass and acceleration force is push and pull. There are two types of forces, unbalanced forces and balanced forces. Forces in paralympic table tennis are the players' muscles. When a player hits the ball with lots of force it is going to go fast. Mass is how much space something takes up. Mass in this sport are the players and the table. Acceleration is the change in velocity. Velocity is the change in speed and the change in direction. Acceleration in this sport is the player ball. The force of the racket hitting the ball impacts the acceleration of the ball pushing it to go faster and sometimes change direction. The mass of a player impacts the acceleration of the ball because the ball won’t go too much past the player (unless a player can’t hit the ball). The acceleration of the other player impacts the acceleration of the opposing athlete. Athletes in paralympic table tennis can predict how fast the ball will travel by how much force is added. Overall, Newton’s 2rd law can be seen in table tennis.
Newton’s 3rd law is in paralympic table tennis too. Newton’s 3rd law of motion states for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Action means something in motion. Action in paralympic table tennis is hitting the ball, jumping, and running (depending on the athlete's disability). A reaction is another movement. Some examples of Newton’s 3rd law in paralympic table tennis is if athletes hit the ball it will go to the opposite side. Clearly the sport of table tennis is fun and popular. Physics can be seen throughout every movement of this sport!